A SNEAK PEEK AT SANTA BARBARA PUBLIC MARKET

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Santa Barbara’s Public Market is part of the Alma del Pueblo mixed-use building that will house both condos and merchants. The first businesses, which open in early fall at the intersection of Victoria and Chapala (formerly Vons), are:

Belcampo Meat Co. sells meats from their own organic farm, processed in their own facility. They always have beef, pork, lamb, and a wide selection of poultry from the farm. Depending on the season, Belcamp also stock goat, rabbit and specialty poultry.

Enjoy Cupcakes offers sweet treats, artfully presented and lovingly prepared. This family-owned business with its current location in Los Olivos boasts items such as Ginger Lime Chardonnay cake and Chocolate Salted Pecan pie.

Foragers Pantry has some culinary items for everyone. From artisanal dinnerware to organic produce to eco-friendly cleansers to a gallon of milk, the Foragers Pantry will have you covered.

Flagstone Pantry will offer soups, entrées, salads, sides, dips, dressings, baked goods and other treats that are seasonally inspired and prepared fresh daily in small batches.

We tried Enjoy Cupcakes once with high expectations because of the good reviews, but they didn’t seem that special. However, Crushcakes has always been disappointing/dry, and there’s not much other cupcake competition in town, so it’s not hard to imagine that people will like Enjoy Cupcakes more.

That’s an impressive variety of shops. In other parts of country, you would probably see mostly chains taking up these expensive realestate spots, for example, the abomination known as the Washington DC Chinatown.

I’d like to give an honest shout out from a local to il Fustino. The woman partner/owner, whose name I have forgotten, gifted me when I was unemployed. I will continue to purchase from them! This is not a shill. Thank you il Fustino.